Vice Squad: Incepi Framebuilding Fixtures

Established in 2014, Incepi produces framebuilding tools. The small company currently offers jigs for attaching disc brake mounts to frames and forks. Fixtures are available for ISO, Post Mount, and Flat Mount caliper mounts.

Incepi also sells dummy axles for both traditional and newer through axle dropouts. Other products are in development and will be introduced soon.

The main focus is to see the framebuilding community expand and diversify. To support this, the owner, Eric Meinert, tries to make quality tools available at affordable prices. Based in Canada, all tools are designed and manufactured in Canada.

Eric says, “I originally created a set of ISO disc tab fixtures for frames and forks just for personal use. The objective was to upgrade an older mountain bike. They worked as well as I expected and were not excessively expensive to produce.

“I thought that others might want these tools as well, so I decided to offer them for sale. I had always wanted to create a business in the bicycle manufacturing industry, so this seemed like an ideal way to start.

“Not overly ambitious and working in an interesting niche with not much competition,” he continues, “Incepi is Medieval Latin for I begin. It seemed like a perfect name for a venture that I had delayed for too long.”

Incepi was officially launched as a Kickstarter project. In the middle of the campaign Eric realized that the two ISO fixtures could be combined into one. This would provide tremendous value to framebuilders, particularly less established ones, or those who are not fulltime professionals.

Incepi’s mission thereafter became, basically, to provide professional quality tools at a reasonable price. Eric planned to develop a Post Mount fixture next, but the introduction of the new Flat Mount standard offered an opportunity that he couldn’t ignore.

There was no commercially available fixture for this new standard. Professional framebuilders would be unable to meet the new demand without one. That product was also introduced on Kickstarter. Eric was surprised by the response. He was being contacted by some of the most recognized names in the industry.

They wanted this product, and they wanted it now. This success gave Eric the brand recognition and confidence he needed to compete with the established players and develop Incepi further. A Post Mount jig was introduced, and that was also well received.

Again marketed on Kickstarter, the buyers were a mix of well-established names in the industry, as well as obscure beginners.

Now that Incepi is internationally recognized and respected, the objective is to introduce products at the upper end of the market. Fork and frame jigs are on the drawing board. There are not many fork and frame jigs that offer the convenience and precision of the premium suppliers, at a cost that is easily affordable.

At the entry level, you get a few pieces of slotted and drilled aluminum flat bar, assembled into a ‘jig’ of limited convenience and reliability. At the upper end, you get complex jigs from experienced professionals that are good enough for professionals, but not affordable to many other framebuilders.

Eric believes that you can make convenient and reliable tools at a reasonable cost. Some may disagree, but so far he has been proven correct.